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SimCity gets World's Largest Ball of Twine in toothpaste promotion

Gosh, wouldn't it be great to have the World's Largest Ball of Twine or a giant dinosaur statue in your SimCity to attract tourists? Yes, wouldn't it just. Unfortunately, these and another three roadside novelties are exclusive to a marketing promotion with Crest and Oral B, through codes in specially-marked packages. Sponsored content is to be something of a thing with SimCity, it seems.

Gosh, wouldn't it be great to have the World's Largest Ball of Twine or a giant dinosaur statue in your SimCity to attract tourists? Yes, wouldn't it just. Unfortunately, these and another three roadside novelties are exclusive to a marketing promotion with Crest and Oral B, through codes in specially-marked packages. Sponsored content is to be something of a thing with SimCity, it seems.

This is the second batch of marketing-y content announced in only two weeks, following a free electric car sponsored by Nissan to promote its new horseless carriage, the Leaf. While free things are nice, it can feel a little icky.

This pack includes five new attractions: a Giant Garden Gnome; Dolly the Dinosaur; Llarry the Llama; a MaxisMan Statue; and the World's Largest Ball of Twine. Remember to bring your broken golf ball retriever and Jesse James' severed hand. EA explains that they make poor people happy, and "will also bring in all three wealth classes of tourists into your city."

It's part of a promotion with Procter & Gamble which puts codes in packs of its Crest and Oral B tooth-cleaning products. The codes can also be redeemed for $5 off an EA game on Origin which costs over $40, but why would you want to do that? Alternatively you can get some virtual cash for The Sims Social, the Facebook game which EA announced yesterday will shut down in June.

Marketing content does feel a bit tacky as SimCity is only just back on its feet following the disastrous launch. Do bear in mind, though, that deals would have been inked long ago and adding new buildings almost certainly uses parts of the development team which would never work anywhere near server stability.